


A liar, Bug and Bird

by readingismyoxygen



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Chloé Bourgeois Redemption, Daminette, F/M, I have no idea what I'm doing, I will die for Maribat, Lila salt, Or don't, Please Send Help, first fic ever, no beta we die like sleep deprived students
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:40:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24679384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/readingismyoxygen/pseuds/readingismyoxygen
Summary: The class goes on a graduation trip to Gotham, but exclude Mari. She goes to Gotham on her own for her boyfriend Damian, and together with his family they will take down the liar once and for all.--First fic I publish, please have mercy. also, if you know a better title, lemme know cause I didn't sleep last night and i'm unoriginal.
Relationships: Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe, Batfamily Members & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Damian Wayne
Comments: 102
Kudos: 1044





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sooooooo first fic I ever post! I've written some stuff before, but my laptop crashed before I could post it. I hope you'll like it, constructive criticism is always appreciated, as I am very much not a native English speaker. I don't know if and when I will post another chapter because school is kind of crazy right now (exams in my high school as a senior seriously suck). If you like this, leave a comment or kudos!! Also, if you have suggestions on where I could go with the story, don't hesitate to comment them, I can always use some inspiration (credits to those people then of course)

The class was going on a graduation trip, as a final goodbye before university. They were all one big group of friends, but two people didn't fit in: Marinette and Chloé. The difference between them was that Chloé just stayed by herself for most of the time, quietly, while Marinette seemed to have it out for everyone's favorite friend: Lila. Because she was always angry at the Italian and just straight up bullied her when no one was watching (Lila had "trusted" them with that info two years ago, but no one saw the devious smirk she hid in her hands while pretending to cry), the class had decided to not let Marinette join them for the trip.

The bluenette was fine with that, she had given up on her class long ago and only really spoke to Chloé when they were alone, to keep the blonde out of their line of fire. Mme. Bustier's class decided to go to Gotham, because Lila's childhood sweetheart Damian Wayne, lived there and it would give tem the chance to reconnect. So they prepared everything to help the girl, booking a hotel, tours to do in the city, plane tickets and so on. Soon, they would leave on their trip of a lifetime.

~~

It was the day of the trip. They were already at the airport, waiting to board their plane, when they saw someone unexpected.

"Marinette? What are you doing her? You weren't invited on this trip!" Alya said furiously.

"Oh, I know, I'm just going to visit some people I haven't seen in a long time."

They were ready to reply sharply when a voice over the intercom called for the people who would fly first-class to Gotham to start boarding the plane.

"Oh, that's me. Bye, everyone!" she said, smirking at their surprised faces and winking subtly at a grinning Chloé. To be honest, while she had planned to go to Gotham for a while now, she lined her trip up with one of her class on purpose, because it was the perffect opportunity to take down a liar.

~~

One long, _long_ flight later, they landed in the city of Crime, and Marinette was ready to go home and _**sleep.**_ She hadn't been able to on the plane (turbulence and not being fond of flying will do that to you), and the day before was entirely spent on packing. Luckily she saw immediately where she had to go, Alfred waiting for her with a gentle smile on is face.

"Hey Alfie, how are you?" she asked, tiredness seeping into her voice.

"I'm doing just fine, Miss Marinette, thank you for asking, though I do believe you could use some sleep."

"I know, I know, I'm not the best at that, but this time I at least have good reasons and I'm stil not as bad as Tim", she answered, holding back a yawn while they exited the building. When they reached the car Alfred put her luggage in the trunk while Marinette lied herself down on the back seat.

~~

Little time passed before they reached the Manor, but it was enough for Marinette to ~~pass out~~ fall asleep completely. She woke up to the sight of two faces mere inches from hers, and will deny for the rest of her life that she shrieked louder than rusty brakes on a car.

"Eeck! By my Mom's cookies Dick, Jay, you almost gave me a heart attack!"

"But Sunshine, we're just so happy to see you again! Seriously, you have no idea how much everyone has missed your heavenly presence!"Dick said dramatically.

"Yeah, especially one certain annoyig little Demon Spawn", Jason said with a smug grin and waggling eyebrows. She hit his arm, but was still too tired to really put any force behind it. 

"D-don't - _yawn_ \- call him that you jerk. Now let me out of the - _yawn_ \- car, kiss my boyfriend and find a bed to sleep off my jetlag."

Jason chuckled as he helped her out of the car while Dick and Alfred took care of her bags.

"This way to your Demon, miss fashion designer."

They walked into the manor, heading for the living room, with Marinette leaning on Jason in a side hug, half asleep again already.

"Oh Demon spawn, guess who's back", Jason said in a sing-song voice, practically carrying Marinette at this point. Damian, who had been petting titus as he sat in one of the armchairs, stood up and walked over to them, a soft smile appearing on his face as he let Marinette lean onto him instead of his brother.

"Hey Shieae Alqamar*, how was your flight?" he asked her softly while pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"Oh it was awesome, turbulence all the way", Tired-Marinette drawled out sarcastically.

He chuckled. "Alright, you need sleep."

"Noooo, I dooon't!"

"Mari, my Moonbeam, light of my life, you can barely stand up straight. You are going to sleep. _**Now.**_ _"_

"Will you pleeeaaaase stay with me then?"

"If that's what it takes to get you to sleep, then sure."

As the two left the room, the others stared after them.

"I still find it creepy how different he is when she's here", Jason stated.

"I think it's adorable", Dick said, his proud-oldest-brother-tendencies rising to the surface. Jason quickly made himself scarce to avoid being subjected to them, while Dick went up to his room gushing to himself about the two lovebirds.

Alfred just smiled softly. "Either way, they are each other's perfect balance."

~~

The class was less lucky. When booking the hotel, something had _**mystyriously**_ (looking at you, Tikki) gone wrong. Instead of a fairly luxurious hotel near the center of the city, they had ended up in one with a lot more creaking floors and beds and a musty smell, on the outskirts of the city. But no matter, they would be able to endure it for Lila! Still...

"Umm... How exactly did we end up in this hotel again? This isn't the one we booked." Alya inquired.

"Oh, I don't know, Als! Marinette must have done something to change it, just to get to me! I'm so sorry you guys!" the liar wailed obnoxiously. The class started muttering while Lila cackled a victorious laugh in her head. _These sheep are so stupid! They believe absolutely everything! I wonder what else I can blame on Mari-trash while we're here..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *the nickname translates roughly to "moonbeam"
> 
> Thank you Krispydefendorpolice for pointing that out!
> 
> (Edited15/06/2020)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who has no self restraint and a severe lack of sleep? This girl! But ideas started to hit me at 4am, so what can you do ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯  
> Enjoy! (also, this was not proofread. at. all.)

The next day was meant for touring Wayne Enterprises. The Wayne boys, at least Dick and Jason, decided to hijack the tour and stand in as the guides to see for themselves how the class acted, and Mari decided to tag along to see any potential drama unfold. She did decide to use Trixx's powers to make sure her class didn't recognize her. The Batfamily knew about the kwamis and had told her about their nightly activities, so the two boys and now ginger haired girl with freckles all over the bridge of her nose just smirked at each other as they exited the car and entered the building. Even from a distance, they could already hear their arguing.

"-and I am very sorry Miss, but you need to wait until the guides are here! Visitors are not allowed to roam the building on their own!" a poor, tired looking receptionist said to Mme. Bustier. 

"Excuse me but do you know who you're dealing with? My bestie here is the boyfriend of-"

"Jason, Dick, there you are! You are leading this class around today right?" The young woman sounded relieved to see them.

"Hey Jasmine! Yeah we're taking over for Eugene and Tiana. Everything alright?" Dick answered in a slightly worried tone.

"Yeah I'm fine! Good luck with those morons, though." That last part she said quiet enough to not be overheard by the class, but it made the three smirk conspirationally.

"Oh we're gonna have so much fun today, I can assure you that!" Jason said while having a peculiar expression on his face that made Louise glad she could stay out of whatever they were planning.

"Okay! So, you are the class from Paris, correct?" Dick asked while turning to the group.

"Yes, we are, though we are here for other reasons than educational ones," Mme. Bustier replied a little snobbily.

"Oh, and what might those be?"

"Coming here gives one of our classmates the chance to reconnect with someone dear from their past, that's all people like you needs to know," Alya answered instead of the teacher. Honnestly, she had no idea who they were. Might be fun to burst that bubble though.

"What exactly do you mean with 'people like us'?" Jason asked her, his voice gaining a dangerous edge and his eyes flashing a bit more green. Alya suddenly became slightly nervous and decided to backtrack.

"N-nothing, let's just start the tour, we've wasted enough time already."

~~

The tour was pretty normal. Jason and Dick explained different departments as if they did it everyday, so Mari decided to hang back a bit, ending up alking next to Chloé.

"So, what are you doing walking all alone in the back?"

"Me and the class aren't on very good terms right now, so I try to stay out of their way as much as possible."

"Really? Everyone in your class dislikes you? That seems strange to me, from what I've seen this past hour you don't really look like a troublemaker."

"I'm not entirely alone, I have my best friend, but she didn't come with on the trip. She is in Gotham as well though, we saw her at the airport, so maybe I'll bump into her while we're in the city. As far as the class goes, it's really complicated, but you are pretty intuitive if you can deduce all that from such a short time with us."

Marinette smirked. "Either that, or I already knew what was going on, Queenie."

"What the hell? Maribug? That's you? B-but you look so different? Oooh Trixx helped, didn't he?" She freaked out a bit, but managed to keep her voice down to prevent their class fromo overhearing.

"Yeah he did, I wanted to see how they acted without being recognized."

"They are ridiculous Maribug, utterly ridiculous! I mean, you come in with two of the Wayne boys and they don't even recognize them!"

"Yeah, that was...interesting to see, but honestly not very surprising. How's your trip been so far?"

As they were talking, they reached the R&D department.Jason and Dick turned to look at the group, waiting for everyone to calm down a bit.

"So! We are now at the research and development department! No pictures, reecordings or anithing else to procure information are allowed, you all signed an NDA which I need to remind you of as a standard procedure." They entered through the doors and saw different chemical substances, lab stations and a _lot_ of very cool tech all around the room.

"Here we develop our new products, from an anttidote for Scarecrows toxins to a remedy for poor Jagged Stone who would love to get a cat but is allergic to them. We at WE try to make evryone's lives better, so that's why there is always a huge variety in our projects. Now on your left you see the prototype for a robot capable of everything a doctor is. Basically, this particular project was started because a lot of our scientists had seen _Big Hero 6_ one too many times. This proves that inspiration can come from anywhere, and that's also why our scientists don't really have a very strict schedule, as we understand that they often need a change of space to order their thoughts. Does anyone have any questions? No? Okay then, moving on!"

Marinette was impressed. Dick reallly sounded like he knew what he was talking about, and considering he thought cereals were an entirely separate food group, this was really fascinating. The class looked a bit stunned, but that only lasted a moment. The tour concluded quickly after, and Mari said goodbye to Chloé before heading home with her pseudo-brothers. This had been really entertainning, but rihgt now she just wanted to cuddle a bit with Damian and work some more on her commisions. She sighed just thinking about the work that still needed to be done. The car ride was relatively silent, exccept for when they laughed a bit at her class, and soon she practically flew out of the car to her boyfriends room, demanding cuddles and happily leaning back onto his chest as she told him about her day. Gosh, it felt nice to be home.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for Harley's accent, I tried guys. Also I have an idea for another fic, not sure if and when i'll write it, but i'll post the general idea for it in the end notes of this chapter. Sorry for the shortness of this chapter, I'm making this up as I go and a lot hhas been happening recently so focusing has been really hard.

The next few days weren’t that remarkable. Damian had school, she had work that needed to be done and Dick and Jay continued to guide the class, because for every event the ‘Akuma Class’ had planned, their guides ‘couldn’t make it’, something Tikki had planned with the two eldest, but would deny to the end of her days (‘I’m the personification of Creation, I would  _ never _ ’). Tim and Bruce were mostly at WE, because a new investor had shown interest in the robot doctor they were developing, so that required a lot of their time at the moment. Everything changed four days later. How exactly? Well, Harley and Ivy decided to drop by the Wayne Botanical Gardens at the same time as the class.

“Well lookie here, there’s some new folk in town Ives! So, what’cha doin’ here? No one comes to good ol’ Gotham without good reason!”

The class looked stunned at the appearance of the two women.

"U-Uh... Class trip?" One of them managed to get out, unsure as of why exactly these two showed any interest in them. Of course, they didn't know Mari had practically befriended almost half of the rogues by now. 

"For realsies now? Ye're Mari's class arent'cha? If this is a class trip, then where's yer class rep?"

"Harls, you're scaring them, give them a little space to breathe", Ivy sighed, used to Harley's antics. While she was talking, Harley had been getting closer and closer to the group of teens with her baseball bat swinging around, and all of them looked quite uncomfortable.

"Y-You know Marinette?" Alya stuttered.

"Yeah 'course I do, she's a real doll, isn't she Ives?"

"She is", Ivy answered with a hum and a soft smile. "She really helps my plants grow, you know, and is so respectful towards nature, really surprised me when I first met her".

Harley got even more enthusiastic. "Oooh, tell them how we met her, that was sooo adorable!" She squealed. At this point the class just stood there, ready to accept whatever was coming for them and too surprised to really react to what the two Sirens were saying.

Ivy softly hummed again. "I believe it was late at night, and we just had dinner at the Italian place four blocks from here. We made a detour here because I felt something going on with the plants, but all we could find was a tiny slip of a girl just talking about her day to the gardenias over there. I swear they started growing just from being in her presence."

"See! I told y'all she was a doll! Plants love her, animals love her -ye can ask her boyfriend 'bout that, he'll tell ya- and even the rogues all love her! She's declared as off-limits by at least six of them for anyone to hurt her!"

At the last statement, Lila got an idea.

"You mean Marinette is involved with criminals? I-I always knew there was something off about her, but for her to be that sketchy, I n-never would have guessed!" she exclaimed.

“Honestly, the only thing that does surprise m is that Marislut managed to get a boyfriend. If anything, he must be just as bad as her, who else would ever like a bully like that bitch?”

Harley and Ivy just looked at each other, at Jason and Dick (who were  _ really  _ trying to hold in their laughter), then they looked back at each other and just started giggling like crazy.

“Th-they don’t know who he is, do they”, Ivy managed to get out eventually.

“Not a clue”, Jason grinned.

“Ooooh boy, this is gonna be great”, Harley grinned back deviously.

The whole class just looked confused. How could they not? Two of the Sirens showed up out of nowhere, apparently know about their class and they know Marinette, they know her boyfriend and are just laughing at them with the two guys who have crashed all of their tours for some reason. What was going  _ on _ ?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so like, Mari wakes up in a strange place, has apparently been kidnapped by some villain and is to be married off to kid Flash (don’t judge me there’s too little Wallynette in the world) Reason the villain does this is because he thinks being married to a complete stranger will make sure Kid Flash isn’t really focused on heroing and Mari was just the first girl he saw who was approximately the same age. Shenanigans ensue, Wally finds out about LB, yada yada they kick ass together 
> 
> that's really all I have in mind for now, but wanted to hear if anyone would be intereested in this idea. Lemme know!


	4. Chapter 4

The time they spent in Gotham became crazier every day. Lila tried to stay as quiet as possible, those two men kept appearing on every tour, sometimes with a mystery girl around their age, and the amount of Gotham rogues/ sort of villains they ran into was just too high to be called a simple coincidence. Two days after their run-in with Harley and Ivy, the Riddler decided to crash their tour of Gotham’s Museum of Modern Art. They were one large group, just walking into one of the halls that was relatively empty, when suddenly every exit was closed by metal bars (think Copycat at the Louvre). They looked around bewildered, trying to find  _ some  _ way to get out, but before anyone could even do anything, a sinister disembodied laugh sounded through the hall.

“Riddle me this, young children. We’re five little items of an everyday sort; you’ll find us all in ‘a tennis court’. What are we?”

The class finally saw someone emerge from the shadows. He was wearing a hideous green suit with purple question marks that made it even more dreadful, and a hat that was ridiculous,  _ utterly ridiculous _ , according to Chloé, who was sure that Marinette would agree with her. While the Riddler sauntered towards them, leaving the few other people alone, Jason and Dick made sure to discreetly warn their family. Jason pressed a hidden button on his phone to activate the distress signal, while Dick called Damian so that the rest could listen to what was happening inside. As soon as he picked up and heard the riddle-loving villain instead of hearing Grayson, in combination with Jason’s signal, he went to get Mari so she knew what happened as well. When he told her, she just sighed and said:

“Honestly, after Harls and Ivy, i should’ve seen this coming. Let’s go.”

Meanwhile. The class was terrified. This was their third villain in about as many days. Speak about rotten luck.

“So, does anyone know the answer? If not, I’ll maybe have to maim someone to give you some motivation, no? What about a more simple one? Who has hair like the night sky, a heart of gold and classmates deceived by lies that are told?”

“Wh-what are you talking ab-about? W-we don’t kn-know anyone l-like that!” Alix tried to be brave, but it was clear that she, like the rest of her classmates, was unnerved by the one that held them hostage.

“You don’t?” He acted surprised. “So, you’re not Mari’s class then?”

“Y-you know Marinette too?” Someone said from the relative safety of the group. Alix thought it was Rose, but wasn’t entirely sure.

“‘Course I do! She’s got almost every one of us wrapped around her finger! You do not want to know the amount of heart attacks that has caused her boyfriend, t’s positively hilarious and cute at the same time to see those two together!”

Riddler’s demeanor changed in an instant, from cold, calculating and threatening villain to a happy and proud gushing man while talking about Marinette. It seemed he was going to keep on talking, but the windows were busted in before he could and three figures entered. Black Bat, Robin and a relatively new bird everyone called Wren (because of her color scheme as well as her being seemingly temporary and the bird being migratory, and both were tiny) stood in front of the class, and Wren was the first one to speak.

“So, what are you up to this time, Nygma?”

“While hello pretty birds, just teaching those heathens a bit of respect, while letting people answer my riddles of course!”

“Of course”, Robin answered sarcastically with a roll of his eyes, “and of course you didn’t threaten them about what would happen if they didn’t know the answer.”

“Oh no, that I did”, he stated, sounding proud. “This class has been very disrespectful towards someone very dear to me, so now they will have to accept the consequences.”

The three rolled their eyes, knowing who Riddler referred to, and Marinette as Wren made a mental note to ask the Rogues to lay off her class. They deserved it, but she didn’t want the villains going back to Arkham for petty revenge. She had a silent conversation with Robin before saying something again.

“Alright, how about this. If I can answer your riddles correctly, everyone goes free.”

“And if you don’t?” Riddler stated curiously.

“Who says I won’t?” She threw back, a calculating smirk on her face.

“I’ll take the challenge, pretty bird! Riddle me this, what is Joan of Arc made of?”

Wren grinned. Tikki would love that one for sure.

“Maid of Orleans”, she answered easily.

“Alright, riddle me this, how many sides does a circle have?”

“Two, the inside and the outside.”

“You’re a smart little bird, aren’t you? Riddle me this, what is it that no man wants to have, but no man wants to lose either?”

She smiled maliciously. “A lawsuit.” That was something her class was going to have to deal with very soon, and she couldn’t wait to see their reactions.

The Riddler grew more and more frustrated. This new little bird was able to keep up with him, no matter how difficult the riddle!

“Alright, I’ve got one for you”, Wren said after a couple more riddles that were pretty easy for her to answer (she invented some of those with him, so  _ duh _ ). “What is green and purple and just lost his hostages?”

“What?!”

With him being so focused on trying to beat Wren, he hadn’t noticed Black Bat and Robin getting everyone out through the windows.

“And now it’s your turn, mister fashion disaster.” With one well-aimed punch she knocked him out while he was too busy berating himself over being so unfocused. She felt a bit guilty for doing that, because as Marinette they got along great as she invented some riddles with him sometimes, when she wasn’t busy and came to visit everyone in Arkham. Still, she couldn’t just let him escape, so with a heavy heart she let the police take him back.

After making sure everyone got out unscathed, she, Robin and Black Bat went back to the Cave to change out of their uniforms. Damian saw she wasn’t her usual bubbly self, and could guess what caused it. 

“Hey Shieae Alqamar , I know you didn’t like to do that, but it was necessary to get the class out of there”, he told her softly. He guided them to one of the sofas near the fireplace in the living room and let her cuddle up to him, hiding her face in his chest.

“Yes, I know that, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t feel like I betrayed Nygma for the class that does nothing but belittle me.”

“I know you feel like that, that’s why I might’ve made sure his cuffs weren’t as secure as they technically should be”, he whispered in her ear. Yes, the Riddler was technically still a villain, but every rogue’s behavior had improved a lot since Mari went to visit them regularly. She really brightened up everyone she came in contact with, which is why Damian was okay with Riddler escaping a bit sooner than he usually would. As long as his Moonbeam went to find him and tell him to lay low, he wasn’t really worried about something similar happening very soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wooo I am back and freshly graduated so I decided to celebrate by writing another chapter! Also, there has been a lot of positive comments about my Wallynette idea (see endnotes last chap) so I'll be trying my hand at that next!
> 
> Thank you so much everyone for all the kudos and the lovely comments, I honestly did not expect this many people to read my fic so every time there's a new comment or new kudos it really makes my day! <3<3<3<3<3
> 
> (by the way the answer to his first riddle was 'vowels')


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Soo... it's been a long time since I posted anything, and for that I blame family shenanigans and my brother who got me into watching anime.Anyway, I've seen a couple of other authors do this, and thought it could be interesting, so: if you have questions about me, ask away and I will answer them unless I feel really uncomfortable about doing so. Also, I've had a Tumblr account for a while now, but haven't really posted anything on it and would like to hear from you guys if you'd be interested if I'd post my stories over there as well.  
> Stay safe!

The day after the scare the Riddler had given them, the class decided to just go shopping instead of going to the zoo as planned. There was a mall not far from their hotel so they decided to go there. Chloe told Marinette about it, and she decided to use Trixx again (with his approval, of course) to disguise herself as the ginger haired, green-eyed American kid that had been hanging around their tours a couple of times. They met up at one of the shops once Mme. Bustier had set a time and place for everyone to return, and a warning not to go alone (though she didn’t seem to have any intention on following up on that warning, seeing as Chloe was alone), and they spent their time just browsing through clothing, critiquing the worse pieces and generally just having a fun time. Marinette had missed this, being able to hang out with one of her few friends without having to worry about the class coming to insult her. Of course, that peace couldn’t last forever. In the next shop they entered, they saw Lila, Alya and a few other girls hanging around, but before they could leave, the group spotted them.

“Hi there! You’re the girl that has tagged along with some of our tours, aren’t you?” Lila started in a sickly sweet voice. No matter how much she hated her, she still had a role to play, so she put up an innocent smile and offered her hand.

“Yes, my name is Briannah, it’s very nice to meet you,” she left the end of her sentence hanging.

“Lila. Lila Rossi. It’s so nice to meet you too, Briannah. What are you doing here?” 

The question sounded innocent enough, but Marinette -sorry, Briannah- knew the girl was fishing for something she could use to her advantage.

“Oh, you know, I was just doing some shopping when I ran into your classmate Chloe here and we decided to team up.”

When they remembered that the blond was there as well, most of them got a snarl on their face. Mylene looked curious though, and the two girls both took an interest in that without showing it to their classmates.

It was Alya who spoke up next. “Oh, you wouldn’t want to go along with her. No matter what she tells you, she’s one of the biggest bullies of our class, together with someone else. She has been ever since we were little.”

Chloe winced when she was reminded of her less-than-stellar childhood behaviour, and Marinette, of course, picked up on that and almost got mad on her friend’s behalf, when she realised that as a stranger to her class, she could set some things straight, as long as she carefully formulated what she said.

“That’s very weird that you would say that, person-who-hasn’t-even-introduced-herself-yet, because Chloe has been nothing but kind to me since I met her. If that’s true, who else has been bullying you? Shouldn’t you report that then?”

A question that seemed like a stranger’s concern, but Chloe caught on to her plan quicker than she expected, because a small smirk was visible on the blond’s face.

“We don’t need to get teachers involved, we can handle this ourselves. Anyway, I’m Alya Césaire, and the other girl you need to watch out for is Marinette. She’s in Gotham too, she says she’s with her boyfriend, but I wouldn’t trust anything that comes out of her mouth.”

“Marinette…” She pretended to ponder for a little, “you wouldn’t happen to mean Marinette Dupain-Cheng, would you?” she asked, the most innocent look in her green eyes.

“Yeah! Wait, you know her?”

Marinette as Briannah let out a laugh. “Of course! Everyone in Gotham does! She’s even gotten a nickname, the Sunshine of Gotham! But why would you think she would bully someone? I saw her bringing blankets to some homeless kids! No one would do that and then just turn around and hurt someone.”

“She’s been bullying Lila ever since she entered our class. What I don’t understand is why everyone in Gotham knows her.”

“She’s Damian Wayne’s girlfriend.” That statement got a lot of reaction, after all, Lila claiming him as _her_ boyfriend was the whole reason they chose this city in the first place. Nevertheless, she pretended not to notice and just went on with her tale. “The fact that she managed to tame that kid is a miracle in and of itself. He was -and still is- known for being extremely cold and often rude, so when they suddenly announced their relationship, the city was in an uproar. Pictures of them with the #Daminette or #Maridami became extremely popular, and everyone saw how different he was with her. The nickname came when multiple people saw her doing stuff like talking the Rogues down to handing out blankets to just being happy most of the time.”

It was weird talking about her and Damian like that, but she was glad she could see the looks of utter confusion on her classmates’ faces.

“But, wait, I thought you said _you_ were in a relationship with him, Lila, “ Chloe said to add more fuel to the fire.

“L-lila, were you lying to us?” Mylene asked in a small voice.

~~

  
  


Lila was Panicking. _That stupid bitch! She just had to interfere, didn’t she!_

“Wh-what? No of course not! Marinette must have stolen him from me, and he kept it a secret that he was cheating on me with her! I-I can’t believe this! How could she do this to me?” She wailed dramatically.

But the first seeds of doubt were there, and Mylene was the first to figure it out.

“No, Lila, you lied to us. No matter how bad she would’ve gotten, that is one thing Marinette would never do, she would never sink so low. Furthermore, I-I have been thinking for a while now. We always knew Marinette as a sweet girl who would bend over backwards to help others, who was a wingwoman for _Adrien_ on his date with Kagami, for heaven's sake, and who hates liars with a passion since before I can remember. Suddenly, Lila comes waltzing in, says Marinette is bullying her and calling her a liar, but conveniently only doing stuff to Lila when none of us are there to witness it. Meanwhile, this girl who has never met us before says that she’s only seen Marinette being happy, helping around the city, even calming down criminals, while stating she’s seen Marinnette with the boy Lila claims to be with. Lila, where is your proof?”

Marinette could just about cry. For so long, she just wanted them to believe her, to ask not only her, but Lila as well for proof behind the claims they made and not follow the liar around like dumb sheep. To hear support coming from Mylene, who was almost always too shy and nervous to really speak up about anything, really made her heart swell with gratitude and pride for the girl.

The group was dumbfounded as well. Apparently, there was a lot more to Mylene then they thought, and they had to admit that never once had they asked Lila about the proof she had.

Lila was only thinking one thing. _Crap._


	6. Chapter 6

After being revealed, Lila got a lot of backlash from the rest of her sheep. Marinette -Briannah- and Chloe were watching with glee, content to finally be rid of her. After most of the shouting had come to a stop, Alya turned to Chloe.

“Do you have a way to contact Marinette? We need to do some serious apologizing to her, and to you as well. We turned on her without so much as an explanation, and you, the girl who used to bully and belittle her, were the one to see what was really going on and support her. I’m really sorry for treating you and Mari the way I did, and you don’t have to forgive me just because I say that now. I know that I wouldn’t if I were in your shoes.” She said most of it with her head bowed shamefully to the ground, but from the tone of her voice and the way she held her body, Chloe could see she meant it, and her eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“That was surprisingly mature of you, Césaire. I accept your apology, but I do not forgive you, not for your behaviour towards me, because I’ve always behaved the same bitchy way towards all of you. No, I won't forgive because of what you’ve done to Mari even when you still called her your best friend. You all have used her for free food and clothes, dumping your siblings with her to babysit them while you went on a date, never actually giving her any sort of compensation for any of the things she did for you guys. Then, someone new comes, tells some pretty lies and you guys drop her like she hadn’t bent over backwards for all of you for  _ years. _ ”

The class looked down at their shoes at Chloe’s words. 

“Chloe?” A small voice spoke up. it was Rose, and she looked at the other blonde fith determination in her eyes. 

“Could you… help us get in contact with Marinette? She deserves an apology from us as well, but I don’t want her to see us calling and believing it to be a trap or something. It wouldn’t be the worst we did to her, and I genuinely can’t blame her for never responding to anything we sent.”

Chloe just raised an eyebrow, surprised theu didn’t figure that out yet.

“The reason Marinette never answered your messages is because she has a new phone with a new number, while the old one is being used to compile evidence for a lawsuit against you all.”

“A lawsuit? Isn’t that a bit too far?” Chloe didn’t know who said it, but couldn’t care less anyway.

“And destroying her stuff isn’t? Tripping her, ruining her website, beating her up isn’t going too far? You guys almost destroyed her life and you will be lucky if she’s ever willing to talk to any of you again!” She turned around to face Briannah, aka Marinette, whose eyes were shimmering with tears now. Chloe grabbed her hand and started to guide her away from the class, all the while whispering small words of encouragement to the girl.

~~

Marinette couldn’t believe it. The liar was outed, her class wanted to apologize, but, her lawsuit, too far? She couldn’t count how many times she had had to ward off an akuma, how many times she had considered just disappearing, how many times she’d portaled to Gotham to get some comfort from the people she knew she could count on. It was all too much. She vaguely felt someone grabbing her hand and leading her away, talking to her as they did so, and suspected it was Chloe, but her mind was whirling, her thoughts too wrapped up in each other to make sense of and- she was in someone’s arms. Someone was holding her comfortingly. Slowly, she started to be more aware of her surroundings. she was back in the manor, the living room to be precise, and Damian was holding her as they were sitting on the couch. Apparently, she’d been out of it for a longer time than she thought, but for now, she just relished in the comfort of her boyfriend’s arms and snuggled in a bit deeper.

“How are you feeling, Moonbeam?”

“Better now that I’m here with you.”

A small smile found its way onto Damian’s face. No matter how cold he may seem, when she said those sweet, cheesy things, he melted into a puddle for her.

“ Do you want to talk about what happened or not?”

“Did Chlo say what went down at the mall?”

“Yes, she did, and Trixx helped fill in some spots as well. What do you want to do now?”

“For now, just stay here with you for a while longer. About my class, I don’t know yet. I mean, they know she’s lying now, but I can never truly forgive and forget. Both Queenie and me have been through some heavy stuff because of them, and that will never change just because they realise that now.”

“Okay. Just let your mind rest a bit for now, you’ve had an emotionally heavy day. i’ll stay with you until you’re ready to start strategizing. Does that sound acceptable?”

“It does, thank you Dami.” She looked up at him, kissed his nose with a small, watery giggle and then snuggled back into his arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whooo! I'm back! I know it's been a while, and I'm truly sorry for that. My life has been turned upside down recently and I've had a lot of trouble finding inspiration to finish this short little chapter. Updates will continue, but it could take a while. I am now officially a university student (Chinese studies, because being normal is boring :) ) and they are keeping us insanely busy, even more in these crazy times of COVID.   
> Stay safe, everyone! <3


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